Note: So apparently smut isn't allowed here on FF? So, I have cut those parts out, but posted the full version over at AO3 if anyone is interested. It's a very tiny amount of smut, and really my first time writing anything like this, so any critiques, comments, or suggestions are appreciated.

Chapter 6

"Enough! You are unfocused," Splinter said sternly, slamming his cane on the ground.

The four ninjas paused in their training, panting, sweat beading down their smooth skin.

Leonardo looked down, frustrated at himself. I am better than this. He just could not stop thinking about her. What is she doing now? He still had not reached out to her, although it had only been a few days, and it left him wondering.

"Your minds are distracted. You must learn to push through these distractions, to focus."

Splinter paused, sighing heavily. His sons knelt while they waited for him to continue. He knew why they were inattentive, although they would never admit it.

He decided on a meditative exercise to clear their minds, while coming up with a solution to their focusing problem. After several minutes of meditating, he cleared his throat. He wanted to try a new angle to motivating them, one that worked very well to motivate Yoshi.

"As your focus slips, so does your training, and your skill. If there was a situation where they needed you, would you not want to be the best ninja you could be?"

Splinter could see his sons' eyes widen as they shifted uncomfortably, not wishing to discuss this with their sensei. He was pleased with their reaction, knowing it meant they had a renewed focus.

"We are done with training for today. Think about what I've said and do what you must individually to reset your focus. Tomorrow, I expect you all to do better." His sons bowed and stood to leave.

Leonardo headed straight for the punching bag to take out his anger. His other brothers headed to other parts of the gym, even Donnie resorted to exercise.

Knuckles bloody and scraped, and panting heavily, Leonardo pushed past his fatigue.

He was jolted from his own thoughts by his youngest brother.

"Yo, Leo, you ok bro?" Mikey's tone was jovial, but his eyes betrayed his concern. Leo's arms were shaking.

"Yeah, guess I just lost track of time."

"I was maybe going to go for a run tonight if you wanna come with? We don't usually go just the two of us." Mikey never usually asked specifically for one-on-one time with his brothers, it just happened naturally. Usually, Leo would wander over and join his brothers in whatever activity they were engaged in, with Mikey it was usually video games.

"Yeah, we can tonight," Leo smiled, while Mikey pulled out his phone.

"I meant to message you this the other night, but I got a bit distracted. Here," Mikey grinned mischievously as he sent the message. Leo sauntered out of the gym, grabbing his phone in the kitchen while he poured himself a glass of water.

M: Broooo, sorry I forgot to give this to you last night, but I asked Nori for Layla's number so you can text her. I know you want to ;) Don't worry, I did the same for Raph and Donnie too. You guys owe me big time haha

Leo cringed, embarrassed his little brother went out on a limb like this for him. He sat down at the table, staring at his phone, still undecided about what he should send.

Typing then deleting then typing again, he finally settled on something.

Leo: Hey, it's Leo. Mikey gave me your number. Did you end up making it home alright?

His thumb hesitated over the send button, before giving in. He immediately let go of his phone and walked away from the table to shower. She's going to think that's so weird. Shit.

Layla woke up to her phone vibrating. That's odd, it's 2 am.

She didn't recognize the number, but bolted upright as soon as she read the text, a large smile forming on her face.

Panic set it. What do I say? Fuck. She slipped into her silk robe and black fuzzy slippers before stealing away quietly to Mina's room.

"Mina wake up," she gently shook her twin. "It's an emergency!" She sharply whispered. Mina sat up groggily.

"What the fuck Layla? What's so important?" rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she took a look at the phone in Layla's outstretched hand. "You woke me from a very nice dream, sis," Mina blushed at her sister, thinking back to her dream involving Raphael and a very steamy shower.

"You can tell me about it after you help me," Layla said as she sat down next to her sister. "What do I say?"

"Aww that's sweet he messaged you. I'm jealous!"

After a paused Mina said, "Just say something casual, be yourself. I don't know."

"Ok how does this sound?" Layla typed furiously before showing her sister the unsent message.

Layla: I did, thank you! Did you?

"Wait should I include a smiley or something? To make it more friendly?"

Mina smiled impishly. She pressed send.

"Mina!" Layla hissed.

"It was a fine message, it sounded like you."

"Don't expect a whole lot of help from me if Raph ever texts you," Layla replied, rolling her eyes, yet smiling nonetheless.

"I wonder what time it is there," she murmured, pulling up google.

"Well here it's time for me to get back to bed," Mina yawed, settling her head on her twin's shoulder and giving her a weak squeeze. "I'm happy for you, you bitch. It's very exciting."

"Thanks, sorry to wake you. I just got a little panicked," Layla giggled, before going back to her own bed.

Leo's eyes bugged out when he saw she replied, but he tried to keep cool lest one of his brothers saw. He walked backed to his bedroom to continue their conversation in private.

"So, did you text her?" Mikey said during a break from their rooftop run.

"Why?" Leo side eyed his brother warily.

"Cause I wanna know! I'm nosy." Mikey crossed his arms over his chest, and Leo knew Mikey would not relent unless he answered him. Leo inwardly cursed his brother's stubbornness.

"Yes I did, and yes she answered back," he replied, answering Mikey's next question before he could even ask.

"Do you like her?"

Mikey, for all his casualness and his goofball nature, had an ulterior motive for asking Leo to come with him for a run. Ever sensitive to his brother's emotional needs, he knew that out of all his brothers, Leo would be the one to deny himself an attachment. And Mikey was determined to help his emotionally constipated brother admit and work through his feelings.

"Mikey, I hardly know her."

"I hardly know Nora, but when I saw her it was like ZAP, she's the one. I never in my whole life thought that we could have this, let alone with another mutant turtle. It seems crazy."

"Yeah," Leo looked out over the city, thoughtful.

"What do you think of her? You must like her a little bit, since you're not really interested in talking to anyone else." Mikey continued to probe.

"I think she's smart, and she's kind," Leo kept staring off over the city, and Mikey could tell he was deep in thought.

"Beautiful?" Mikey waggled his eyebrow bridge, but his tone was becoming more serious.

"Yeah," Leo whispered, continuing to avoid looking at his brother.

"You don't have to worry so much about messing up, or not being perfect. I'm sure as you get to know her, she'll care about you for who you are, flaws and all. Just like we do. I don't want you to pass up anything because you don't think you deserve it, or you're afraid of bringing her into your life. I know you don't know if you like her like that yet, but don't push the opportunity away." Mikey was quiet now.

"I only say it because out of all of us, you would be the first one to push her away to protect her, or us. Or even yourself. Raph's that way too. But I think this could be the best thing to ever happen to any of us. It's good for us. You always deny yourself things for us, but I won't let you this time."

Mikey paused, letting his brother mull over his words.

"I love you bro, and I want you to be happy," Mikey patted his brother on the shoulder. Leo nodded at him, patting him back.

"Thanks Mikey," he said quietly.

"Last one home cleans the dojo!" Mikey bellowed as he sprinted away, laughing. Leo grinned and dashed after his little brother.

A few days later...

Layla: Only because you asked :)

Layla sent a picture of her garden, as promised.

Leo: That's amazing! That must've taken so much time! That's so much nicer than my 5 bonsai trees lol.

Layla: Thanks! And I'm sure yours are really nice. You HAVE to show me!

Leo: Ok fine. Wait…why is it dark? What time is it there?

Layla: Um midnight

Leo: Why didn't you tell me? I completely forgot about that, I'm sorry. You shouldn't stay up late just to talk to me.

Layla: I don't mind really. I have nothing else to do anyways, and I can just sleep in. Oh, how was your run last night?

Leo: Good, it helped clear my head

Layla: I like to go for walks to do that. I did last night while you were out.

Leo: Alone?

Layla: Sure, just in the woods by the house. There's this really lovely pond in a clearing

Leo: Is that safe?

Layla: I think it's ok. I didn't exactly tell anyone where I went though. Not my smartest idea…

Leo: You should let me know next time just in case something happens! You shouldn't go without telling anyone.

Layla: I will! I was a little upset, so I didn't even think to tell anyone I was going.

Leo: What's wrong?

Layla: It was honestly unnecessary for me to get so upset, but Nora broke something important to me. It was just a chain on a necklace, but it was a necklace my grandma gave me when I visited her in France when we were little. I'm sure I could get it fixed, but I was so angry that she was careless. She didn't mean to be, but I yelled at her and made her cry. I feel so awful about it.

Leo: I'm sorry Layla. And it's not "just a chain", it was something valuable to you. She should have been more careful, and you have every right to be upset. I understand how you feel. Yesterday Raph and I got into it again. He's just so reckless...

Layla: I'm sorry Leo. What happened?

Leo: He went out again and was gone for a long time. And again he came back, clearly having been in another fight.

Layla could see the three dots, and she figured he was typing furiously. She took a deep breath, then sent him a message.

Layla: Would you rather talk on the phone? I'm sure it's frustrating to type it all out.

She waited for what felt like an eternity.

Leo: Sure, just give me 10 minutes.

She smiled, then dashed out to her little greenhouse, closing the door. She wanted to ensure no one would overhear.

Leo looked around the living room and, seeing all his brothers occupied (amusingly with their phones), he quietly stole away outside the lair. If it was daytime and he didn't want to venture outside, he had a spot in the sewers that he would go to. It was private and he had never shared it with his brothers.

He called her, so nervous he could hear his heartbeat in his ears.

"Hey," he said softly.

God I missed his voice. She felt hazy, her lower abdomen warm with pleasure at the sound of his voice.

"Hi Leo," she paused, "ok so…go on. I'm listening."

"I understand that he feels frustrated and goes topside to get it out, we all do from time to time, but he's the most reckless, and I always shoulder this burden of worrying about him. He could expose our family or get into a situation where he doesn't come back. It's happened before, and I've had to take care of it. I hate getting angry at him, but when I bring it up he just questions everything I say and do. Sometimes he just shows such little respect for us, for me. It's better now that what it used to be, but when we do fight it's so intense." Leo sighed, leaning back. It felt good to get that off his chest.

"I wish there was something I could do," she murmured.

He smiled, something fierce and tender rearing up in his chest in response to her kindness.

He chuckled at her, "Listening is nice. It's helpful, thank you." He paused. "I'm sorry I just dumped all of that on you. Hey uh, show me that necklace, I might be able to fix it."

"Don't apologize," she shushed him gently, voice soothing, "I don't mind, and you listen to my problems too. Um, I can video chat to show you?" She offered nervously.

"Yeah sure," and in an instant he saw her dainty hand with elegantly painted fingernails holding up a chain broken at the clasp.

"Yeah I can definitely fix that," he said. "I'll do it when we visit you guys, if you're ok to wait that long."

"I would really appreciate that."

"Where are you?" He asked curiously. She panned the camera around, showing him her little greenhouse. In return, he briefly showed her the little hideaway he was at, promising when she visits he'll show her.

Leo laid in bed that night, mulling over their conversation earlier that day. He started out thinking of how caring she was, how intently she listened, how much better he felt after talking to her. She made him feel as though his problems were important. She is so easy to open up to.

How good her voice sounds. He closed his eyes, mind wandering. He could feel his shell tighten, his dick threatening to spring free. Unable, or unwilling, to stop himself, he began to indulge in his fantasy. Making sure the door was locked, he freed his throbbing cock and encircled it with his hand. Kneeling next to his bed, he imagined her sprawled underneath him lissomly.

A few days later...

"Ok well I was watching this documentary about FLDS people in Utah, and their crazy cult. But, they were talking about this phenomenon called sister-moms, and I had this epiphany. That's exactly what happened to me, I just didn't have a name for it!" Layla was talking animatedly about one of the many documentaries she watched that week. Leo would often watch them too, he found them fascinating and it gave them just one more thing to have in common. They became quickly accustomed to talking on the phone, if they could find the time to sneak away, nearly every day.

"Like, even though I have a twin, after mom died all the responsibility just shifted to me. And it put me in a really tough spot. I want to just be their sister, but someone must be responsible and look out for them. And I feel like they don't respect that I was put in that position. Not only that, but they always expect me to be there for them to pick up the pieces. I don't feel like I get that in return. Anyways, these girls in these cults raise their younger siblings because the mom has so many children she can't take care of them all. The oldest girls pretty much miss out on a normal childhood because they're too busy raising their siblings. I always felt like that."

He could almost feel her sadness through the phone. Her tone was quiet, melancholy. Leo frowned. "Mina didn't help out?"

"She tried her best but she was always so passive," Layla sounded dejected. "They never understood why I was so serious all the time. I just took it all on so they could live the most normal life possible, and didn't tell them how it made me feel. I know this is going to sound selfish, but I wish they were more appreciative of how difficult it was to have to be their sister-mom," She sighed heavily. "I'm sorry I ranted so much. Thank you for listening."

"Yeah, I understand, I feel like that too, all too often. And it's not selfish to want to feel valued for making a sacrifice like that," His voice softened. "I guess we're more alike than we thought," he chuckled.

After a long pause, he prodded gently, "You never mentioned anything before about your mom."

"She passed away when I was 10." She hesitated, before adding quietly, "I can tell you about her when you come to visit."

"Only if you want to, I won't push it," he murmured.

"Did you smooth things over with Raph?"

"It's getting better." What he didn't tell her was that he felt immensely better after…the other night. A sudden wave of guilt crashed over him. He cared about her, wanted to help her, to listen to her. He craved to make her feel better. At the same time, a primal lust took hold of him as he listened to her voice, imagining touching her. He shifted awkwardly, the uncomfortable sensation of his erection against his shell becoming more evident. He was thankful she couldn't see. How was he supposed to look her in the eyes when just a few nights ago he did…that?

"We sorta talked it out, but I feel like it's not fully resolved yet," he added. "Oh I was going to tell you, Donnie and I watched something I think you might like. It's a little scary though."

"Oh? What is it?" He smiled hearing how her voice rose in excitement, glad to have been the cause of her taking a more lighthearted tone.

"It's called the house of secrets, it's about a crime, but I don't want to spoil it."

"Should I wait to watch it until I'm not alone?"

He chuckled at her. She loved creepy documentaries but was a bit of a scaredy cat. "Hmm not sure, we do have to watch that other one you wanted me to see, Abducted in Plain Sight?" He hesitated before saying, "Tell you what, we'll save those two to watch together here in a couple of weeks. If you want to, of course." He smiled anxiously, anticipating her response.

"I would really like that. Oh, I've got to go, Talia is calling me. Euphoria is on, and you know how we always watch it together. I don't want to miss it. I'll talk to you soon," she said, a rush of adrenaline caused her to speed up her words at the mention of them watching movies together. Would it be just the two of us?

He could always tell when she was smiling, even over the phone, with the way her voice changed.

"Yeah uh, talk to you soon."

"Goodbye Leo."

"Goodbye Layla."

Layla melted into her mattress; mind firmly focused on Leo. She felt hazy with arousal thinking about his voice. How when he murmured to her over the phone, his voice sounded a touch deeper.

Her hand slid between her legs, and she imagined it was his large rough hand teasing her. She had been wet all evening because of him. She faintly muttered his name into the darkness of her room. Closing her eyes, she lost herself in sensation.

Layla fell into a deep sleep, anxieties replaced by comfort and pleasure.